by Dave Schechter
CNN Senior National Editor

Much as Americans grumble about Congress, but then re-elect their own representatives, they also complain about the nation’s education system while feeling pretty good about their own local public school and teachers.

Americans may be uncertain about whether teachers should be paid more, but they certainly think better of teachers and principals than they do of school boards – and parents (looking in the mirror?).

The Census Bureau tells us that an estimated 55.5 million children, from pre-kindergarten to grade 12, will be enrolled this fall in nearly 100,000 public and more than 33,000 private schools (which educate 11 percent of those students) and will be taught by more than 7 million teachers.

As these children hoist their (often swollen) backpacks and return to school, it’s worth considering results of the recently released 43rd annual Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll, a survey of 1,000 American adults conducted in June that is a trove of attitudes about public education. FULL POST